Cleveland man gets life for decades-old killings of 2 women

Elias Acevedo, a 49-year-old Cleveland man, has been charged with the murder.

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Elias Acevedo, 49, was charged with 297 counts, including rape and murder

Acevedo pleaded guilty to strangling 30-year-old Pamela Pemberton

He also was accused of killing Christina Adkins, who disappeared in 1995

A Cleveland man will spend the rest of his life in prison for the killings of two women in the 1990s, cases that were reinvestigated after the discovery of three women held captive nearby for years by Ariel Castro.

CNN affiliate WEWS reported the charges included the two slayings, the 1993 rape of his sister-in-law and the sexual assault of three children.

Acevedo cried as victims gave statement and later said he wished he could "change everything that happened," the station reported.

"I'm not a monster," he said.

The plea recommendation was accepted by a Cuyahoga Common Pleas judge, a written statement from McGinty's office said. Acevedo received two consecutive sentences of 20 years to life and 405 years for the rape and other charges.

In October, the FBI's Violent Crime Task Force -- which was looking into other suspected abductions in Cleveland after Castro was arrested -- linked Acevedo to the slaying of Christina Adkins, who disappeared in 1995 at age 18.

Remains believed to be those of Adkins were found in October in a utility vault near the intersection of interstates 71, 90 and 490, authorities said.

Acevedo was indicted earlier this year in the 1993 rape, which occurred near where Pamela Pemberton's body was found the next year.